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Monday, 22 October 2012

CENSUS SHINES LIGHT ON IRISH AUSTRALIA

We, as family historians, genealogists or researchers, place great value on censuses... it is interesting to realise that yet again, Australia is enjoying a large influx of Irish citizens immigrating to Australia or at least coming here on working visas. My own Irish connection began in 1792, when Bridget Heslin/Eslin from Dublin, was a given a free journey on the "Sugar Cane. She was my 5th great grandmother.In the early 1900's, more of my ancestors, two great uncles, a great aunt and my maternal grandmother, made their way to Australia. Only one of my great uncles stayed, the other returned home to run the family farm in Co Clare. Sadly the one who stayed, had no choice... he was killed while tree felling and unbeknowns to me at the time, was buried less than30 kms from where I grew up.Again, less than two years ago, the grandson of my great uncle who had returned to Ireland,came to Australia in the hope of starting a new life.

Future generations will still be claiming Irish ancestry as so many of us do today. The Irish Echo summarises it very well....

Census shines light on Irish Australia

The census has revealed Irish ancestral links in Australia and the country's growing Irish-born population.

The 2011 census figures offer a fascinating insight into this country's rich

and diverse composition and shows that the Irish are here in everincreasing numbers.

With figures provided exclusively to this newspaper by the Australian

Bureau of Statistics (ABS), we have learned that there were almost 90,000

people born in the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland in Australian

on census night, August 9, 2011.

There were substantially more people born in the Republic of Ireland in

Australia for the 2011 census than its 2006 predecessor.

Some 67,316 people listed the Republic of Ireland as their country of birth,

up from 50,260 in the 2006 census, marking a rise of 33 per cent in the

Irish-born population.

Of the 67,36 people from the Republic of Ireland recorded in Australia on

census night, 36,231 males were recorded as opposed to 31,085 females.

The Celtic Tiger ended during the period between the two most recent

censuses, while the Australian economy weathered the global financial

crisis better than almost every other developed nation.

It is little surprise that this boom and bust dichotomy continues to lure

Irish people to Australia.

The ABS also provided figures on the number of people born in Northern

Ireland who filled out a 2011 census return, offering a rare insight into the

numbers and make-up of people from this part of the island of Ireland who come to Australia.

Generally, these figures are included within the data for the United Kingdom. The extraction of the Northern Irish data offers some nuance. A total of 22,595 residents in Australia listed Northern Ireland as their country of birth.

The gender split was roughly even, with 11,071 women and 11,524 men. Intriguingly, the census reveals that the Northern Irish-born resident of

Australia have a slightly higher median age (57) than those born in the

Republic of Ireland (43). It is a statistical nugget that shows we are only

scratching the surface – one that suggests more people of certain generations left their homes in different age clusters.

There is a good thesis in this, for anyone who can extract more from the data fields of the ABS. The ancestry question once again provided interesting results.

However, questions still linger over its phrasing and reach.

Paul Lowe, head of the population census programme, told the Irish Echo prior to census night that ABS consulted with various migrant groups

before phrasing questions 14, 15 and 18.

He also acknowledged that there was increasing pressure for the ABS to

expand the question on where people's parents were born. Not doing so

would be an opportunity lost.

That a person can now list their ancestry as 'Australian' is particularly perplexing, given that Australia – as it was dubbed when colonized – did not exist 250 years ago.